Aqua and Kairi were racing to Mirage Arena to meet up with Terra and Riku. Aqua's mind was spinning having read the final report. The two of them had tried contacting Terra and Riku, but they didn't respond. Ven and Sora didn't respond either which made her concerned. Soon they saw the outer shell of the arena, landing on the external platform. Kairi was in awe of the world as she looked around.

"Amazing!" she exclaimed as they both stepped onto the teleporter and found themselves within the arena lobby. Hers and Aqua's helmets immediately disappeared while their armor remained active.

"I know, isn't it? The Master used to say that this world was created specifically for the training of Keyblade Apprentices. It's a place that adjusts its difficulty to better suit the warrior and their needs. But we need to find Terra and Riku." Aqua said as she walked up to the computer. She pressed a few buttons and soon received a message on the terminal.

"Hmm, it seems that there are two separate arenas in use right now. Let's see. Ah, here they are." Aqua said, pressing a button and instantly a portal beneath the large central sphere opened, depositing an armored Terra and Riku. They both looked around, surprised by the sudden disappearance of their arena.

"What the-? What happened?" Riku asked confused.

"Sorry boys, but we really need to talk." Aqua said as she and Kairi approached. Terra and Riku's helmets disappeared.

"Oh, well why didn't you try and D-Link with us?" Riku asked curiously.

"Because the Arena prevents outside interference, including D-Links." Terra replied as Riku nodded understandingly.

"Oh, I get it, I'm there." Riku said as they emerged from the central pit of the lobby.

"So what did you find in the Land of Departure?" Terra asked.

"We found a report." Kairi said with a worried expression.

"Another Xehanort Report? Great! Let's see it!" Riku exclaimed but Aqua motioned to wait.

"There's a bit of a situation with this one, actually. This report isn't from Xehanort." Aqua said, earning surprised looks from Riku and Terra. Riku then looked at Terra curiously.

"Hey, don't look at me, I don't remember writing a report of my own." Terra said with a shrug.

"Then whose is it?" Riku asked.

"This report is from one of the Keyblades." Aqua said as Terra and Riku blinked in surprise.

"One of our Keyblades? Which one?" Terra asked.

"It doesn't say." Aqua replied.

"Then what does the report say?" Riku asked curiously. Aqua cleared her throat as she began to read aloud from the report…

"It seems that the Master takes me for a fool. While I pity their arrogance, I cannot deny their thirst for power. I am a man destined to be Emperor, but I shall do so in the hands of my Heart-Bound. They assume my Heart-Bound is no more but I know the truth. My Heart-Bound still lives and I am his loyal servant. He gave me his commands and I follow them to the fullest extent of my being. My task is to bring about the Master's defeat, and the easiest way to go about doing that is by exterminating my fellow brethren. It is the secret of our birth that is the master's weakness. We are the Keyblade Incarnate! But the Master, oh they are a different story altogether. Their fate is bound, like the chains that bind them, is to their own subjects. Were one of us to…perish…the Master would feel it instantly. I know how and why this is the case, but dealing with the others is the easy part. The hard part, is dealing with the added complication of locating the one needle in the haystack that will prevent my Heart-Bound from inheriting his birthright. However, there is a new player in our midst. One who has the power to see into people's Hearts as well as determine what lies within them. If he could be…persuaded, to join me for the time being, then perhaps the problem might just solve itself. But if not…well, there's always plan B."

Riku and Terra stood in silent confusion at the end of the Report.

"Who was that, and who were they talking about?" Riku asked curiously.

"I'm not sure who it was, but I'm pretty sure that this Master they're talking about must be the one leading the Keyblades." Aqua said as Terra pondered.

"And that whoever wrote that is obviously not one of the nicer Keyblades." Terra said as the other three nodded.

"Agreed. We need to find out what who or what this Keyblade is after." Aqua said.

"Then what's the plan, Aqua?" Riku asked.

"We haven't been able to reach Sora and Ven for a while. I'm getting kinda concerned." Kairi said as Riku and Terra exchanged glances.

"We'll contact Master Yen Sid and find out where they've gone." Riku said as Terra nodded.

"You two going to stick around here for a while?" Terra asked.

"Yeah, I promised Kairi we'd practice a little here before meeting up again." Aqua replied.

"Then let us know when you're done and we'll let you know what we've found." Terra said as he and Riku turned to leave, their helmets activating as they walked onto the teleporters and vanishing in a flash of light. Aqua and Kairi then turned towards the console.

"So what are we going to do first, Aqua?" Kairi asked.

"I figure some sparring is in order. A simple one-on-one match, perhaps." Aqua replied as she started putting information into the console. Just then they heard the teleporter activate. They turned and saw someone unfamiliar to them. It was a teenaged man with a distinct silver-lavender hair color that fell just beyond his shoulders, with a large, curved spike at the front. He had narrow eyes, with a light-bluish color. He was of medium height, light build, with a pale complexion. He had white sleeves, with a violet guard around his shoulders. He had a white robe on the back of his legs that extend to his ankles. The robe was held up by four straps that acted as a codpiece. His pants were a deeper purple than his shoulder guards and his shoes are black with golden buckles. He looked around curiously, disregarding Aqua and Kairi completely.

"Hmm, it doesn't seem that he's here." The man said as he walked towards the two women.

"May we help you?" Aqua asked as the man stopped and pondered.

"Perhaps you can. You see, I'm looking for my dear younger brother. He's always running off." The man said almost overdramatically with the back of his hand to his forehead in a woeful stance.

"I see. Can you think of a reason why he'd run away?" Aqua asked. She didn't notice as Kairi squirmed uncomfortably while looking at the man.

"Oh why yes there is. You see, he's a thief and he's stolen something very important. I believe he was last spotted heading in this direction. I'm certain that if you were to stick around, he will show up." The man said as Kairi crossed her arms over her chest with a suspicious expression.

"What makes you think he'll show up here?" Kairi asked. The man chuckled and turned away towards the teleporter.

"He's attracted to beautiful young women, like yourselves. Simply standing around looking pretty will naturally draw him out. I'll be continuing my search so if you find him, be sure to keep him…occupied." The man said as he stepped onto the teleporter and disappeared in a flash of light.

"What a nice man." Aqua said with a hint of sarcasm as she turned back to the console.

"Are you sure about that? Didn't you sense something strange about him? Like he was hiding something?" Kairi asked as Aqua paused and looked down at her.

"What do you sense Kairi?" Aqua asked curiously.

"I sensed something dark about him. I don't know what though." Kairi said nervously as Aqua glanced towards the teleporter curiously before turning back to the console.

"Then we'll keep our guard up." She said, earning a curious look from Kairi.

"Huh?"

"You're a Princess of Heart, Kairi. You're heart is more attuned to sensing the Darkness than mine or Sora's is. If you sense Darkness in someone, then trust your instincts about them. You're probably the best judge of character we've got." Aqua explained.

"Well that's pretty cool if I do say so myself." An unfamiliar voice said. They looked around and saw no one.

"Who said that?" Kairi asked.

"Wow, you both look pretty hot from this point of view." They heard the voice say again. Aqua then paused and looked up, spotting a figure sitting on the top of the central floating sphere in the arena lobby.

"Hey! Get down from there!" Aqua shouted. A second later the figure yelped as he slid off the sphere towards them. Aqua quickly moved and caught the figure which turned out to be a boy with shoulder-length blonde hair, greenish blue eyes and a prehensile monkey-like tail. He wore a teal vest over a white shirt with blue pants and several belts. He had large white and blue gloves and white boots. As soon as she caught him however, he gave her a suave grin and rested his hands behind his head.

"You're even cuter up close. So whaddya say, you wanna go out some time?" the boy asked. Aqua's reaction was a scowl. She followed up by dropping him on the floor.

"Ow! Okay maybe I deserved that." The boy said as he dusted himself off, earning a confused look from Kairi and a scowl from Aqua.

"Who are you?" Kairi asked. The boy quickly slid around and put an arm around her shoulder with the suave grin again.

"The name's Zidane. Zidane Tribal. And what might your name be? Would it happen to be, angel?" he asked, causing Kairi to blush a deep shade of red.

"K-K-Kairi." Kairi stammered as Zidane (Final Fantasy IX) slid around to put his other arm around her shoulder.

"Kairi. A name like the sea. It suits you." He said with a grin, causing Kairi to giggle. Zidane then turned towards Aqua and slid over to put his arm around her waist.

"And what's your name, sunshine?" Zidane asked before getting shoved away by Aqua.

"I am Master Aqua of the Keyblade. She is Kairi, Princess of Heart and Apprentice of the Keyblade." Aqua introduced as Zidane tapped his chin with an impressed expression.

"Well-well. A Master. Sounds like fun to me. You wanna be the Master that punishes her naughty new apprentice of love?" Zidane asked with a cheeky grin, his eyebrows jumping, and earning a stunned expression from Aqua.

…

Elsewhere, Rain was walking through the courtyard of the castle with Dawn when they heard a strange sound. They paused and looked around curiously.

"Did you hear that?" Dawn asked.

"Sounded like someone getting slapped to me." Rain said. They both looked at each other and shrugged before walking on.

…

Back in the Arena Lobby, Zidane was lying on the floor clear across the lobby with a red handprint across his left cheek that was letting off steam. He was twitching a little, showing he was alive. Aqua was glowing with a murderous aura that dissipated as soon as she caught a deep breath. Kairi was standing off to the side with an absolutely stunned expression on her face.

"Wow." She muttered in shock.

"Perverts. That's what I do to them." Aqua said in a terse whisper. In Twilight Town, Axel had this inexplicable wave of fear overtake him.

"Okay, that was painful." Zidane rasped as he stood up and turned towards them slowly. He staggered a little as he moved but that was understandable.

"Okay, I admit, my comment was uncalled for. But can you blame a guy for admiring art when he sees it?" Zidane asked as Aqua crossed her arms.

"There's a fine line between innocent observation and perverted gawking. Sufficed to say, you crossed that line." Aqua said as Zidane started approaching them.

"Yeah, you're right, I'm sorry. But considering that I've been on the run for a while, I couldn't help myself when I saw two beautiful ladies arrive here." Zidane said. Kairi was immediately brought out of her stunned stupor.

"Wait, you've been on the run?" Kairi asked curiously.

"Yeah. I'm what you could call a thief." Zidane said as Aqua and Kairi looked at each other.

"Really? What did you steal exactly?" Aqua asked with intrigue. Zidane looked around curiously before reaching into his pocket and pulling out a piece of paper that had been folded three times, one side over the other, and sealed with a black round stamp.

"I got this from a Castle I was in lately. I had spotted these guys being recruited by some large fat cat guy and I followed them. One of them, a guy in a black cloak, spotted me and chased me out of the castle. He caught me and gave me this letter before telling me to run. Before I knew it, I was being chased by these strange blue creatures." Zidane explained.

"Blue creatures? Sounds like Unversed." Aqua said as she pondered.

"The big fat cat guy sounds familiar too. Was his name Pete?" Kairi asked as Zidane shrugged.

"Dunno, but the guys he was with, the guy in the black cloak, and a guy with a white robe and a sword, another guy with long silver hair, one black wing, and an extra long sword, and…one other guy, were with him and boy did they look mean." Zidane explained.

"Mmm, sounds like Pete and the Keyblades. But the guy with a black wing…oh no, Sephiroth. I was afraid of that." Aqua sighed.

"Woo that name gives me the willies just hearing it." Zidane shivered.

"Me too." Kairi muttered.

"But what does this letter say?" Aqua asked as she started to open the letter. But before she could however it crumbled into dust in her hands.

"What the-?" Aqua asked in shock.

"Well-well-well…look what I've caught in my web." They all turned and saw the man from earlier. Zidane quickly dropped into a battle stance, drawing two jagged and curved daggers and holding both in a reversed grip.

"Kuja!" Zidane exclaimed as the man chuckled.

"Did you really think you could escape me for long, brother? Why you've lost your touch." Kuja (Final Fantasy IX) said with a dark grin.

"If I had known this was a trap, I wouldn't have come here!" Zidane shot back.

"Wait a minute, you mean this was all a trap for Zidane?" Kairi asked as Aqua flashed back to what Kuja had told them earlier.

"I'm certain that if you were to stick around, he will show up. He's attracted to beautiful young women, like yourselves. Simply standing around looking pretty will naturally draw him out. I'll be continuing my search so if you find him, be sure to keep him…occupied." Kuja had said to them.

"And we were the bait for the trap." Aqua said in realization.

"Drat. You knew my weakness Kuja! That was low using the two hotties here to keep me occupied." Zidane said as Kuja chuckled.

"Oh, I'm afraid that the trap wasn't set just for you, dear brother. The trap was for them as well." Kuja said as he reached into his pocket and pulled out a small sphere with glowing red "happy" Unversed eyes and a mortarboard hat on top. He tossed the sphere over his shoulder, causing the sphere to glow a bright purple before it burst open, revealing a tall Unversed in what seemed to be a graduation cap and gown and carrying a large book. Aqua recognized it immediately.

"The Mimic Master Unversed!" She exclaimed as she and Kairi both dropped into their battle stances and summoned their Keyblades. Their helmets on their armor even appeared in place as well.

"What did they do to you, Kuja? Why trap them here too? I'm the one you want, not them!" Zidane shouted but Kuja chuckled.

"Why he doth ask? Why the answer is simple. I've been tasked by a few friends of mine, to deal with that girl there!" Kuja said as he pointed at Kairi.

"You're not stealing her Heart, Kuja! As a Master of the Keyblade, I won't allow it!" Aqua yelled. Kuja then surprised them all by laughing.

"Did I say anything about stealing her heart? Why such beauty and yet you are so ignorant. I'm not here to steal her heart. I do need to do something with her heart however. Nothing permanent, in fact, you could say that what I'm doing is helping her by taking a burden off her heart." Kuja explained.

"I don't care what it is, Kuja. You're not touching her heart!" Aqua shouted but Kuja laughed again and started floating in the air with eight glowing spheres of light circling around him.

"But I'm afraid you don't have any choice in the matter. My friend, the Mimic Master, will see to that." Kuja said with another laugh before a blinding flash of light enveloped the whole arena and when it faded, Aqua, Kairi, Zidane, Kuja, and the Mimic Master had vanished.

End Chapter 26.

I do not own Zidane & Kuja. They're both from Final Fantasy IX.